Nghe An: Tightening management of donation money at temples

(Baonghean) - The Provincial People's Committee has just issued Decision 18/2016/QD-UBND regulating the reception, management and use of donations at historical and cultural relics, scenic spots and landscapes in Nghe An province. This Decision replaces Decision 195/QD-UBND-VX dated January 24, 2011, demonstrating the urgency and timeliness, affirming the State's management role in the face of issues arising in the practice of receiving, managing and using donations.

Difficulties and shortcomings

Hung Nguyen has 111 relics, of which 12 have been ranked nationally and 18 have been ranked provincially. The relics in Hung Nguyen district attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to visit and pray for peace. Besides focusing on preserving and spreading spiritual values ​​in the relics, the question is how to receive, manage and use donations appropriately?

Mr. Ho Van Hiep - Vice Chairman of Hung Nguyen District People's Committee affirmed: "For many years, the work of receiving, managing and using donation money at relics in the district has been strictly implemented according to Decision 195/QD-UBND-VX dated January 24, 2011. Accordingly, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has advised the District People's Committee to issue many documents guiding the People's Committees of communes, towns, and relic management boards to implement regulations on the organization of management boards, protection teams, regulations on donation boxes, donation vouchers, regulations on opening donation boxes and distribution and use...".

People donate money at Con Temple (Hoang Mai town).

However, despite the "tightening" of the implementation of the regulations in Decision 195, in reality, the work of receiving, managing and using donation money in Hung Nguyen district still has some shortcomings. Accordingly, in Decision 195, the distribution of donation money is stipulated: 65% of the donation source in cash, 100% of artifacts and labor to repair and embellish relics according to the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage and the competent authority's decision (deposited in the Treasury); 35% of the donation source in cash for ceremonies, celebrations, electricity and water, propaganda, advertising, festival organization, salaries of the protection team, and relic management.

This leads to the fact that many relics with little merit do not have enough funds to preserve, restore, or pay for the management team. Some relics even have great difficulty finding managers and protectors because the monthly support for them is too low. This is also the common situation of many relics in the province.

In Vinh City, the average annual donation from Quang Trung Temple and Hong Son Temple is about 2 billion VND/relic. Meanwhile, many other relics in the city such as Tran Hung Dao Temple (Doi Cung Ward), Trung Communal House (Hung Dung Ward), Tria Temple (Hung Loc Commune)... have almost no donation money for repair and restoration, leading to serious degradation.

On the other hand, in some localities with large revenues from relics, they wish to transfer a portion of the donation money to serve the construction and renovation of welfare works such as roads, schools, medical stations, etc., but Decision 195 does not stipulate this content. Therefore, it leads to the situation of "underground" transfer, self-collection, self-spending, etc.

Open and transparent

From that reality, Decision 18/2016/QD-UBND regulating the reception, management and use of merit sources at historical and cultural relics, scenic spots and landscapes in Nghe An province has received the consensus of localities.

According to Mr. Ho Manh Ha - Deputy Head of Heritage Management Department, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Decision 18 has many new points, more suitable to the actual situation than the previous Decision 195. Specifically, the scope of the Decision is expanded, more universal, including historical and cultural relics, famous landscapes and landscapes, not limited to historical and cultural relics as in the previous Decision 195. In particular, Article 8, Decision 18 stipulates a more flexible allocation of merit sources, focusing on social welfare work at the local level and the heritage conservation fund. The social welfare fund is regulated by the unit assigned to manage the relic, but within a certain percentage, it is controlled. The heritage conservation fund is a common fund established by the Provincial People's Committee to create a fund from the merit sources at the relics to support the work of preserving, embellishing and promoting the value of cultural heritage in the province.

Oil drop money box at Hong Son temple (Vinh city)

Decision 18 also provides stricter regulations on the establishment of a donation monitoring team. In particular, the composition of each subject of decentralized management is expanded. For relics decentralized to the People's Committees of districts, towns, communes, wards, etc., the composition of the monitoring team includes representatives of the People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Association of the Elderly, Association of War Veterans, Inspectorate, and Finance. For relics decentralized to departments, branches, and sectors for management, the composition of the monitoring team includes leaders of units, specialized departments, people's inspectorates, trade unions, youth unions, and industry finance. This regulation helps strengthen management, supervision, and transparency in the collection and disbursement of donation money at relics, strengthening the trust of people and tourists from all over the world.

Phuong Chi